How millions of trees brought a broken landscape back to life
After 25 years, the decision to site the National Forest amid derelict coal and quarry workings has borne spectacular fruit Twenty-five years ago, the Midlands villages of Moira, Donisthorpe and Overseal overlooked a gruesome landscape. The communities were surrounded by opencast mines, old clay quarries, spoil heaps, derelict coal workings, polluted waterways and all the […]
Look to the sea to provide the energy the country needs| the big issue
Tidal input to the national grid could match Hinkley nuclear in cost and quantity Fusion or fission, nuclear power is not the only reliable alternative to fossil fuel (“Britain’s energy dilemma: if not nuclear power, then what?” News). Sunshine, wind and waves vary with the weather, but tides still rise and fall and the flow […]
Scientists warn world will miss key climate target
Grim backdrop to vital global emissions talks as new analysis shows 1.5C limit on warming is close to being broken Leading climate scientists have warned that the Earth is perilously close to breaking through a 1.5C upper limit for global warming, only eight months after the target was set. The decision to try to limit […]
Nuclear safety fears grow as France snubs UK watchdog
France’s slow response to ONR on suspect components raises question for regulator’s interaction with Chinese contractors Britain’s nuclear watchdog was made to wait more than a fortnight for key files from energy giant EDF confirming that components recently revealed to be suspect had not been used in one of Britain’s largest nuclear power stations. Emails […]
Let them eat bugs: US startup sees future of sustainable food in creepy crawlies
Grubbly Farms is raising black soldier flies as a substitute for wild-caught fish in food for livestock and farmed seafood The experiment started inside the laundry room of an apartment in Atlanta, Georgia, where the two college students created a nursery for 700 larvae of black soldier flies they bought on Amazon for $20. Sean […]
Fossil fuel moguls are backing Trump with words, but not with donations
The Trump campaign has seen dismal fundraising yields in the energy sector, seemingly due to nervousness about his policy and his volatile temperament Shale oil billionaire Harold Hamm publicly lavished praise on Donald Trump during the Republican convention last month. Natural gas mogul T Boone Pickens is talking with pro Trump Super Pacs about providing […]
Rio's waste pickers: 'People spat at us but now we're at the Olympics' #Rio2016
Rio authorities partner with Coca-Cola to fund the Rio Olympics waste pickers programme, putting a spotlight on one of Brazil’s most marginalised professions Claudete Da Costa started working as a waste picker with her mother when she was 11 years old, collecting recyclable goods in Rio de Janeiro to sell to scrap merchants. “We were […]
Last dance of summer for the pied flycatcher
Newport, Pembrokeshire Of all birds, none reminds me more clearly and poignantly that ‘summer’s lease hath all too short a date’ “Like miniature magpies!” That’s how my friends’ young daughter described them to me years ago, delighted by the little dancing birds of summer that thronged the track down to my house. She wanted to […]
Baby whale stranded in New Zealand harbour for 20 days has died
The orca, nicknamed Bob, was dehydrated and emaciated, and refused food offered by scientists trying to save him The baby orca stranded in Tauranga harbour in New Zealand for more than 20 days has died. The calf – nicknamed Bob by locals – had been separated from it’s pod in mid-July, and despite the efforts […]
BP reveals Great Australian Bight oil drilling sites are within marine reserve
Plan attacked as ‘outrageous’ as company says oil industry can safely coexist with the marine environment BP has quietly announced the planned location of its controversial drilling in the Great Australian Bight, and the two sites fall within the Commonwealth Marine Reserve. Despite being the subject of a Senate inquiry, and having its application to […]